Baby won't drink & I'm so fed up
Well, after two weeks of feeding bliss, munchkin is worse than ever. Before, after much crying, screaming and fighting, we could get her to drink at least half a bottle. We'd then resort to rocking her to sleep and feeding her the other half. Now she won't drink ANYTHING awake. She either bats the bottle away, pushes the teat out with her tongue, sits with it in her mouth not sucking, or on a really bad day just screams and cries, wriggles and hits me in the face with her flailing arms as soon as she sees the bottle. I'm exhausted. We're having to feed her asleep at every feed, which involves waiting for her to be asleep enough to not notice us removing her dummy and swapping it for the bottle, and not so asleep that it just sits in her open mouth. It takes an hour to an hour and half each feed and every time she falls too asleep we have to wake her up and do the whole process again. It's stressful, tiring and upsetting for us and her. I've started questioning is it really silent reflux? Or has she developed a feeding aversion? Or is she just not a hungry baby? Either way she's not gaining weight as fast as she should and the past 4 days her intake has dropped from the below recommended amount of 27-30oz to 20-22oz. At this rate she'll fall off the grow charts completely.
Going out has become almost impossible as I need quiet to get her to sleep to feed her. Today we went for lunch with the family and I had to resort to sitting outside in the car with the engine running for warmth and feeding her in the front seat because the restaurant was too noisy. Staying at home gets me so depressed I cry during her feeds and feel totally helpless, frustrated and fed up, but going out is just as stressful as I'm counting the hours til her next feed, thinking about where I can feed her that's quiet enough and desperately trying to keep to set times for her naps so they coincide with her feeding times so I can get a decent amount of milk down her.
I knew being a mum would be hard, but I thought it was going to be lack of sleep that would be the killer. I never imagined I'd have the stresses of a baby that refuses to feed enough to grow. I find myself wishing her early months away just so we can get past this phase as enjoy her, and feel guilty for feeling that way. Every bottle is a minor triumph, and I go to bed counting the oz of formula she's had and go to sleep dreading my alarm and having to do it all over again. It's like an endless onslaught of clock watching, battling and worrying.
Anyway, vent over. Today was a battle won. 27oz. Now it's bed time and back to battling again at 7am.
Going out has become almost impossible as I need quiet to get her to sleep to feed her. Today we went for lunch with the family and I had to resort to sitting outside in the car with the engine running for warmth and feeding her in the front seat because the restaurant was too noisy. Staying at home gets me so depressed I cry during her feeds and feel totally helpless, frustrated and fed up, but going out is just as stressful as I'm counting the hours til her next feed, thinking about where I can feed her that's quiet enough and desperately trying to keep to set times for her naps so they coincide with her feeding times so I can get a decent amount of milk down her.
I knew being a mum would be hard, but I thought it was going to be lack of sleep that would be the killer. I never imagined I'd have the stresses of a baby that refuses to feed enough to grow. I find myself wishing her early months away just so we can get past this phase as enjoy her, and feel guilty for feeling that way. Every bottle is a minor triumph, and I go to bed counting the oz of formula she's had and go to sleep dreading my alarm and having to do it all over again. It's like an endless onslaught of clock watching, battling and worrying.
Anyway, vent over. Today was a battle won. 27oz. Now it's bed time and back to battling again at 7am.
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